R.I.P. Deborah Watling

The actress Deborah Watling has died, she was 69.
While best known for her role on Doctor Who, she was also in several other tv shows, including The Invisible Man tv show. She was also active in theater productions.

While not many of the episodes of her appearances on Doctor Who remain, she will forever be remembered for her role as Victoria Waterfield in Doctor Who,

Deborah Watling, you will be missed.

What we learned in Doctor Who episode ‘Deep Breath’

Following up on my post from last Friday, I have a few answers to my questions.

1. Will it take place right after what we saw on the Christmas special, or will it jump into the future, as the fiftieth anniversary episode did from the last episode of last season?

Yes it did, or at least shortly there after, I think all we missed was a T-Rex chasing the TARDIS.

2. What kind of relationship will Capaldi’s Doctor have with his companion Clara?

This question is still being answered, but for the most part it seems like it’s going to be more like what we saw between between Rose tyler and the ninth Doctor. In fact there was quite a bit of similarity to the episode “End of the World”, from going for chips and the Doctor not having any money.

3. What will the new TARDIS look like? It’s been remodeled from what’s said in one of the trailers.

This was one of the bigger let downs, while it might be slightly changed, I really didn’t notice any major changes, though we didn’t get much of a change to see it.
Personally I’d like to see it a bit brighter like it used to be, however everything is darker on TV right now.

4. What will the new Doctor’s catch phrase be? All I can assume is it’ll be something new that we haven’t heard before.

Nothing stood out as a catch phrase in the first episode, though I suppose that “I’m Scotish!” could be the new catch phrase, though I hope not,
Personally, I much prefer a single word catch phrase

While there was much more to the episode, I really can’t say much without any spoilers, though I assume most interested people have all ready watched it.
However I want to point out that in “The girl in the Fireplace”, the Doctor never learned the name of the ship the time windows were opening on, therefore learning that the Marie Antoinette was the sister ship of the Madam de Pompadour would mean nothing to the Doctor.

Over all I thought it was a good episode, a little week in a few parts but otherwise a strong story. New new Doctor looks like he might be a very interesting version.

Thanks for reading and feel free to share your thoughts.

Tomorrow (Saturday, August 23rd) is the day we’ve all been waiting for!

It is finally here, the day we’ve been waiting for all year. It looks like nothing will stop tomorrow from arriving, no astroids threatening civilization (not that we’d really have to worry about those), no alien invasion (again, we know we wouldn’t have to worry about that either), not even any mad scientists trying to reverse the aging process.
Yes, it looks like well all be able to enjoy the first episode of the new season of Doctor Who tomorrow.

Soon we’ll see if the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi (number twelve or fourteen depending on how you count them,) can live up to the storied history of the Doctor.
We’ll also find out soon just how the continuity with previous seasons will be dealt with.

While many people may have read every rumor, every leak and even vague hints about the new season, I have read very little, only watching a few trailers.
Here are the main questions I have for tomorrow’s episode:

1. Will it take place right after what we saw on the Christmas special, or will it jump into the future, as the fiftieth anniversary episode did from the last episode of last season?
2. What kind of relationship will Capaldi’s Doctor have with his companion Clara?
3. What will the new TARDIS look like? It’s been remodeled from what’s said in one of the trailers.
4. What will the new Doctor’s catch phrase be? All I can assume is it’ll be something new that we haven’t heard before.

Thanks for reading, I hope you’re looking forward to the new episode tomorrow as much as I am.
I’ll leave you with one last word of advice: Run!

Alien snow?

With the recent snow in the southern US , some people have noticed that the snow has an odd smell, naturally they decided to try to melt it with fire. The odd thing is that it doesn’t seem to melt.
While there are many people coming up with reasons, such as the snow evaporating. Or the water that melted moving to the center of the snow, I’m worried that there might be something more sinister behind it.
You can easily find people talking about this snow as well as seeing videos on YouTube, I’m not including any links because I can’t find a reliable news source and I don’t want to annoy anyone by linking to their story without approval.

I have a terrifying theory or two myself:

What if this snow is from another planet? Does anyone remember ‘The Waters of Mars’ episode of Doctor Who? What if this is the catalyst that starts a Zombie apocalypse?

All of the videos I saw showed these people bringing the snow into their homes… Sounds slightly like another episode of Doctor Who, doesn’t it? Could it be a weapon developed by terrorists?

Perhaps it’s just odd snow after all, snow from Earth without any foul origin.

Thanks for reading and please comment if you’ve encountered this snow or have a theory of your own.

Random thought for Sunday, December 26th

In the Doctor Who episode ‘The Doctor’s Daughter’, the Doctor talks about time travel to Jenny. After she returns to life, why doesn’t she go after a time machine so she can reunite with the Doctor?
I think that she would have added a lot to the show. I believe that they might be able to bring her back, a new actress can play her, just say she regenerated. It would be easy enough for her to come back with the Time Lords, perhaps she fought in the Time War.
Anyway, that’s just my idea.

My favorite part of Christmas

My favorite part of Christmas isn’t what most people would expect. I enjoy giving and receiving gifts, I enjoy cookies and candies, I enjoy Christmas movies, but those aren’t my favorite part of Christmas.
My favorite part of Christmas normally involves something strange, like mannequins dressed like Santa Claus with pistols in their hands, alien ghosts reanimating the dead, blood thirsty snowmen or magical Christmas gifts that are doorways into another world. Oh and Charles Dickens fighting to save Earth.
Obviously I’m talking about the Doctor Who Christmas specials of years past.*
Tomorrow (or today depending on when and where you read this) we get to see the Doctor fighting another epic battle… One we know he won’t survive in his current form, but there will be a new Doctor emerging, which should bring about some great new episodes.
For myself, I have to say that I find this episode to be the most anticipated of the year, I’m only hoping that it lives up to the hopes that I have for it.

Thanks for reading this and Merry Christmas.

* I know, two of those episodes are from the first season with Rose, but they still say Christmas to me.

Fiftieth Anniversary episode of Doctor Who review

This is my review of the Fiftieth Anniversary episode of Doctor Who.

This will contain “spoilers”. I believe that most true Whovians have already seen the episode Day of the Doctor at least once by now, so the following shouldn’t affect any of you.

If you haven’t watched the episode and you call yourself a Whovian, I hope that you had a good reason, like a tornado, earthquake, Dalek invasion, hurricane, Cyberman upgrading, or other worthy reason not to watch it. If none of those options apply to you, I have an interesting piece of news for you, you aren’t a Whovian.

 

 

Now that that’s out-of-the-way, this should be a safe spot to start to avoid spoiling anything for the unlucky few who haven’t seen the episode.

 

It was overall a good episode, solid in story and it stood up as Doctor Who nicely. That said, it could have done with a few more cameos of former Doctors.

John Hurt was a great Doctor, it’s a shame that we don’t get to see more of him, it would be interesting to see his character explored more thoroughly.

Billie Piper was good, it was a shame that she wasn’t reprising her role as Rose Tyler. It was also a shame that she only interacted with John Hurt’s Doctor, I was really hoping to see her reunited with David Tennant’s Doctor, I was also wondering how Rose would get on with Matt Smith’s Doctor and Clara. I had half hoped for Rose  and Clara to start sharing tales of their adventures.

Clara was… well, Clara. She’s not the greatest companion, nor the worst by far.

David Tennant was great, he stepped back into the Doctor with ease, you couldn’t really tell that he had been gone for five years (has it really been that long?). In my opinion, David Tennant could easily step back into his role as the Doctor for five more years without any trouble.*

Matt Smith was himself, he wasn’t any better or worse than in most of his episodes.

Seeing Tom Baker at the end was great, his cameo added a hint of something to the episode, it makes me wonder if he might not have a few more cameos in the future.

We did get to see the next Doctor for a split second, just the top of his head and his eyes, but in that one glance I got the feeling that he might be one of the best Doctors in recent history (it didn’t hurt that his TARDIS seemed to resemble the 9th Doctors (or rather the 10th, seeing where John Hurt’s Doctor fitted in…). I always liked the more, as John Hurt said, run down TARDIS, or the Steam Punk style, those were by far the best in my opinion.

The idea that under the Tower of London is a secret archive that’s TARDIS proofed seemed a but far-fetched at best. I can’t imagine that the TARDIS could be kept out of any place, not if it could go rescue Rose in he middle of a Dalek fleet.

I assume that that was added only to get the three Doctors to go through the Time War and blast a Dalek with the three sonic screwdrivers. Which was a good scene, I give them that.

 

Now for a quick pro/con list:

 

Pros:

• David Tennantt returned!
• Billie Piper returned!
• We got to see the old TARDIS interior!
• The start of the Regeneration into the (old) ninth Doctor.
• John Hurt’s Doctor.

 

Cons:

• Poor idea with a TARDIS proofed archive.
• Billie Piper didn’t play Rose, didn’t interact with David Tennant’s Doctor.
• Clara didn’t have a real part to play, she was only in it for a few lines toward the end that mattered.
• John Hurt’s Doctor (most likely) won’t be seen again.
• More questions were raised than answered about the Time War.
• The idea of removing a planet to get the Daleks to destroy themselves seemed far-fetched.

 

All in all, I enjoyed the Day of the Doctor. It was a pretty good episode, but it could have used a few more cameos by former Doctors, even if only for a moment. Plus I really wish that Christopher Eccleston had returned, at least so we could have seen John Hurt regenerate into him fully.

 

What did you think of the 50th anniversary episode? Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts? I want to know, please comment and tell me!

Thanks for reading!

 

 

* Here’s an idea for Steven Moffet: Convince the BBC to have a second series of Doctor Who running, it could be a slightly cheaper series profiling the missing adventures of past Doctors, you could even throw in a new companion or two if you wanted to, there are bound to have been days or even months missing from between the episodes thathave been made.

My thoughts on the Doctor Who’ announcement

On Sunday we learned who the next Doctor will be. Spoilers ahead, read at your own risk (as if you haven’t already heard and been thinking about it for over a day).

 

The announcement of Peter Capaldi as the next Doctor leaves me with a few thoughts.

1. I’m glad that the Doctor is still male, I don’t think a female would have really worked.
2. That said, I am a bit disappointed that Billie Piper wasn’t named the next Doctor, they could have done a lot with her as the Doctor.
3. I’m worried about Peter Capaldi’s reputation for cursing on TV, I’m sure that the BBC won’t let him be too foul-mouthed, Doctor Who is basically a kid’s show according to them, but it’s still something that I worry about.
4. I never liked companions who were in the show as a different character before they became a companion (Donna was different because she reprised her role and I’m still not sure about Clara).
5. I’m looking forward to a slightly older doctor, after Matt Smith we need a Doctor is bit more mature.
6. I find it interesting that Peter Capaldi is the same age as the first Doctor, William Hartnell.
7. Also I’m already wondering just how long he’ll last as the Doctor, I hope he’s not going to be a single season or two, unless he turns out to be lousy as the Doctor.
8. One last thought I have is this: Could the announcement of Peter Capaldi be merely a front to keep us all on the edge of our seats when Matt Smith’s Doctor regenerates into a new Doctor played by, say, Paris Hilton?”

 

Those are the thoughts I’ve had during the last day. Please comment, I’m  curious what you might think of these thought of mine, or if you have any interesting ideas of your own.

Thanks for reading!

What I think Doctor Who needs

In addition to what I mentioned last week,  I think that the other main problem with Doctor Who is the companions. Since Doctor Who was rebooted in 2005, they have had trouble creating companions for the Doctor that felt real. They did a good job with Rose (I think I lost about a fourth of my readers right there), Donna was decent but not entirely believable (at least another eighth just stopped reading).

I never liked Amy and Rory, they just didn’t fit in for constant companions, maybe once or twice a season would have been enough for them (just lost half of the readers that had been reading since the beginning).

I can’t comment on Martha Jones, I haven’t been able to catch enough of the season with her in it in reruns to have formed a solid opinion of her.

I’ve been watching the Doctors revisited on BBC America since the beginning of the year, I wish they would have more than one episode a month.

From the companions featured in those episodes, I’ve found myself drawn into the old episodes much more than the current episodes. Here’s a few that stick in my mind:

Jamie and Victoria: Companions from the past, a perfect idea! Let the Doctor’s companions be different, have their own view points that might clash with ours today, it would allow us to see how times have changed.

Susan: The Doctor’s granddaughter, I only saw the one episode, but she had the potential to be a unique character, I’d love to see the rest of her episodes.

Ace: The Seventh Doctor’s companion that attacked a Dalek with a baseball bat… what else can be said about her? Well, besides that fact she was an explosives genius and didn’t follow the Doctor’s orders?

 

There were other companions that I should mention, but these are the most memorable for me.

If the new writers of Doctor Who (as in the writers since it was rebooted)  would look at these older companions, I mean really look at them, they would see quite easily what the modern companions are missing.

Give me companions with good stories, from multiple times, perhaps multiple planets and let them be real, no more cookie cutter companions.

 

Thanks for reading this (assuming anyone managed to read all of it), I really appreciate it! Please tell me your thoughts below.

My Doctor Who theory

This is my theory about what’s going to happen in Doctor Who during the Fiftieth anniversary special and the Christmas special. If you don’t want to read my ideas, or want to hear my take on a rumor going around, please don’t read any farther.

 

All right. You’re reading this, so I’ll continue.

As is common knowledge, David Tennant and Billie Piper are returning for the Fiftieth anniversary special. I’m looking forward to them coming back, even for a single episode. I’m taking it for granted that you already know that Matt Smith is leaving the show after the Christmas special. The interesting thing is a lot of people are calling for David Tennant to return as the Twelfth Doctor. The other major rumor is that the next Doctor will be a woman.

While I’m not entirely sure how well it would work turning the Doctor into a woman, I’ve been trying to think of what kind of actor or actress is needed for the part. I never really cared for Matt Smith, he wasn’t bad, but I don’t think that the writers knew how to treat him.

I’ve been trying to think how Steven Moffat would think, it’s not easy, but I’ve finally managed to see how he might trick everyone, he always seems to want to create mystery around the show, which is why I believe he’s allowed the rumors about the Doctor regenerating into a female Time Lord to float around so long.

I think that Steven Moffat knew who he was going to choose as the twelfth Doctor even before Matt Smith decided to leave. I think that he is going with an actress who has already been in Doctor Who. I think that the next Doctor is going to be the only woman that could possibly pull it off.

Any ideas? I’ll give you a few clues:

 

1.  She has played key parts in the series since it returned in 2005.
2. She’s been rumored to make returns in other episodes.
3. She saved the Doctor a few times.
4. She’s loved by some fans and hated by other.

 

That’s right, I think that Billie Piper will be the next doctor. It makes sense, she’s been with the rebooted Doctor Who since it began, she’s looked into the heart of the TARDIS, she traveled between universes to see the Doctor again.

All they would have to do is have the Doctor regenerate inside the TARDIS, perhaps touching something of Rose’s. The TARDIS could lend a hand as well, just look at the end of the first season to see how the TARDIS always liked Rose anyway.

Plus there’s the bonus factor that sometime, if they need a twist in an episode, Rose could return and meet the twelfth Doctor, Billie Piper would have to play two parts, but that’s been done before.

 

What do you think? Have I seen through Steven Moffat’s mystery? Or am I just spouting foolish ideas?